Pollution of methane gas soars and people mostly to blame

A new study says the amount and proportion of heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, and it’s helping to turbocharge climate change

According to the study, the biggest single human-connected source of emissions are cows.

The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds.

The study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tonnes (608 million metric tonnes) of methane in the air, up nearly 12% from 2000. An even more significant finding in the study in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: those from humans jumped almost 18% in two decades, while natural emissions, mostly from wetlands, inched up just 2% in the same time.